Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The way I see it, if people truly love my music, they will support me in some way down the road.
If I'm performing with a DJ, it's all on me to draw the energy. I like the camaraderie of a band.
Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction.
Consider me the entity within the industry without a history of spitting the epitome of stupidity.
Honestly, you have to take care of yourself. That's probably something I have learned on the road.
My rhymes are like shot clocks, interstate cops and blood clots, my point is your flow gets stopped.
I'm not looking to set a standard... but, I believe I have offered a challenge to others with my work.
If you go to a college campus and you do stop and frisk, you're going to find a lot of drugs there too.
Just because no one can understand how you speak, Don't necessarily mean that what you be sayin is deep.
It’s very seductive to focus on what you don’t like as opposed to celebrating all that it is that you do.
I have a luxury of people coming to see me whether I play for the crowd or not. I don't take that lightly.
Even an independent label is looking for a hit, they're not looking for a record that's not gonna do well.
Who you? Your name smaller than fine grains in couscous It's the highest calibre, your calibre is deuce deuce
A true artist does not depend on radio for success. A true fan does not let radio determine what they support
We commute to computers Spirits stay mute while you eagles spread rumors We survivalists, turned to consumers.
I ignored your aura but it grabbed me by the hand, like the moon pulled the tide, and the tide pulled the sand.
The most important time in history is - NOW - the present, So count your blessings cause time can't define the essence.
But there's so many things in life like women, like children, like God and family that transcends the world of hip-hop.
I was kind of just too lazy to take my money out of the bank until I saw how Citi Bank responded to Occupy Wall Street.
You have to learn how to harness technology so you can use it for positive stuff without being disconnected from nature.
We speak the love language, they speak from pain and anguish. Some don't love theyselves, so they perception is tainted.
I'd like to work with Outkast, I'd like to work with RZA, I'd like to work with Timbaland, York, a whole bunch of people.
I look at the deejay thing as a tier thing. If I'm not going to compete on that level, I'm just going to do it as a hobby.
If you ain't using all the talents God provided you with For the betterment of Man, understand, You ain't nothing but a waste.
There just needs to be a gay rapper who's better than everybody. That's when that question will no longer be able to be asked.
I look at the deejay thing as something - I'm good at it because I have my own music. I have enough rhythm to blend at this point.
You gotta get back to your essence, Use your gifts and share your presence, Don't count your dollars 'til you count your blessings.
Being called a conscious rapper is quite a compliment. It's a great thing to be. But as an artist, my nature is to not be in a box.
As an artist, I have to be a leader of my fans, not like follow them. Because if I chose to follow them, you know, they could do it.
You gotta eat right, you gotta have healthy habits, you know, and balance out your decadence with a healthy lifestyle during the day.
Before Eminem, the idea that there would be a white rapper that anybody would really check for was fantastic or amazing or impossible.
Music is not an exact science so depending on the time and the mode and the energy when we do it that will determine what happens with it.
You have to know when to be arrogant. You have to when to be humble. You have to know when to be hard and you have to know when to be soft.
There's a lot of activism that doesn't deal with empowerment, and you have to empower yourself in order to be relevant to any type of struggle.
I remember looking back on a photo of me... wearing a suit that was, like, two sizes too big for me. I think a lot of guys don't know what fits.
I listened to a mind joint, and I wanted to do my own version of it, and what you hear on my mixtape is my take on what the whole CD sounds like.
I gotta be dope first. I gotta be appealing to your senses, and to what you like first. Then the message happens. Then you relate to the message.
Let me finish my music, and let me present it the way I want to present it. And then share it, put it online, do whatever you want to do after that.
Fortunately, artists can live off their works, if you're creative at how you do it. If you just depend on the videos and the radio, you're at a loss.
I was always rhyming and doing it for the love before I found out I was gonna have children and when I found out, doing it for the love wasn't enough.
If you look at my career, doing albums with Norah Jones, Justin Timberlake, Gucci Mane and Lil Wayne or KRS-One and Jean Grae, I can't be pigeonholed.
You know, there's a lot of activism that doesn't deal with empowerment, and you have to empower yourself in order to be relevant to any type of struggle.
People consider Black Star a great album, and I think it's a classic album. But the fact is, both me and Mos Def have made better albums since Black Star.
I like the fact that I can rep New York, but my style does not - I'm not trapped in a New York thing. I can do art songs with other artists and it's seamless.
You see somebody rapping and you're like, "Nah, my cousin can do that." You're spoiled by the experience. Overseas, it's still something that people can appreciate.
I started rapping because I wanted people to hear what I have to say, I want as many people to hear me as possible, and I do everything in my power to make that pop.
When you have a voice and a platform and you know better, it becomes your moral obligation to support that community. And by extension, you're supporting your family.
You make knowledge relevant to life and you make it important for children to learn things that will really relate to things going on in their lives, and not abstract.
I don't think that early hip hop stood out to be a social critique. A lot of fans of mine think that hip hop's ultimate responsibility is to critique social structures.
As an artist, I have to be a leader of my fans, not, like, follow them. Because if I chose to follow them, you know, they could do it. You know, it's me who's doing it.